backfire ( sophitz )
by flustered dreams
Summary: "EVERYBODY SAYS SAY SOMETHING" we've all met jellybean, but . . . who's peanut? after a night gone wrong, sophie foster has a plus one to care for.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

 **I have way too many stories, and here I am, adding on another!**

 **Good for me :)**

 **And to make matters worse, I have NO ideas for this atory. Whatsoever.**

 **So, you all know Jellybean, . . . right? ;)**

 **Are you ready to meet Peanut?**

 **Tell me in the comments, peeps and I'll get this story a-chuggin'. Choo-choo! :P**


	2. Enciente

_SOPHIE BLEW OUT AN ANXIOUS BREATH AS SHE PACED AROUND HER ROOM, trying to calm her frantic heartbeat. She dug through laundry baskets on clothes -dirty or clean, it didn't matter which - and folded a selected few, trying to pass the wait. It seemed like a never-ending stretch into the oblivion._

 _She got tired of that at some point and began to look and search throughout her backpack. She found random sketches, a couple of her long-lost silver pencils, some Prattles pins, some Prattles wrappers, and so on with random items._

 _She dashed to her iPod, becoming impatient. She clicked the power button, jolting the screen to life and popping up her lock screen, clad with a groupie of her and her friends all making the weirdest, yet most adorable faces possible._

 _Sophie had been about to look at the time when she gasped at sudden wetness under her feet and found a yellow, cold and slimy sludge on her floor. Keefe had come over last weekend, and he'd brought along some art supplies. Apparently, he'd left some behind, because in her absent mindedness, she had stepped onto a open tube of paint, squirting it everywhere._

 _"C'mon . . ." she groaned, rolling her eyes at the irony. "Now? Now of_ all _times?" She shook her head. "Later."_

 _Sophie peered at the time on her screen._

 _Three minutes to go . . ._

* * *

SOPHIE WANDERED AROUND EVERGLEN MEANINGLESSLY, HANDS FOLDED BEHIND her back as she strolled down the hallway, admiring all the paintings and pictures on the walls. She smiled at the young Biana, Fitz and Alvar, running around the lawn of Everglen, clearly not paying attention to the fact there was someone sneakily taking pictures of them.

Then a frown settled in her smiles place at the brain wracking reminder of the secret she was carrying with her. Would Fitz care enough to stay her friend? Would Biana? Oh, crap. She'd ruined them, hadn't she?

"Whatcha up to, Foster?"

Sophie jumped at the voice and swung around, hand ready to karate-chop anyone or anything.

"Whoa! It's just me! Geez, someone's on edge," the blonde boy teased.

Sophie let her guard down and shoved her hands in her pockets, leaning lazily up against the wall with a roll of her eyes. "What do you want now, Keefe?"

His forehead creased as he frowned and gave a nervous laugh. "Uhh . . . You?"

"What?"

"You asked me to meet you here earlier. Remember? We were playing Base Quest and you looked down, so I asked you what was wrong and you told me you'd tell me later, inside. I figured . . ."

Sophie face-palmed her forehead. "Right!" Her heart suddenly slowed to a steadier pace as she let the words sink in.

She was about to tell Keefe something that could quite possibly make him angry with her, or ruin his best friend's life. Wonderful.

"-oster? Earth to Foster?"

Sophie shook out of her trance. She darted her eyes back and forth down the hallways, amking sure no one was watching or listening in. She grabbed Keefe's arm suddenly and started dragging him down the hall. "Hey!" he yelled in protest.

She pulled him into the guest bedroom swiftly and locked the door behind them.

"What the-"

"You won't tell," she ordered.

"W-wha-"

"You. Will not. Tell. Got it?"

Keefe looked around the room nervously, half-expecting to see someone ready to stuff him in a bag. "umm . . . Sure?"

"Yes," said Sophie, gritting her teeth, "or no?"

She was not in the mood to play games. This was serious.

". . .Yes . . ." he answered, half unsure if he wanted to hear what she had to say.

Sophie's angry face calmed as she inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. Her fawn eyes looked up to them, fear eminent. "I . . . I'm-"

* * *

 _THE FLOWER CARPET COULD NOT BE SPARED. There was no way of getting the paint out without a very thorough wash. Very._

 _Keefe was so going to owe her for this._

 _She twiddled her Imparter in her hands, thinking over and pondering the idea of hailing Dex. but knowing how chipper her best friend would most likely be, he'd sadly make her nerves multiply._

 _She massaged her temples as she began to pace, thinking over the main concepts of being Cognates._

 _Trust matters most . . . No trust equals no bond . . . No bond equals no . . . Well, Cognates._

 _No secrets. Secrets defy trust and leave the other feeling blindsided. No secrets . . . No secrets . . ._

 _But if this was true . . . And what she believed had happened to her was true . . ._

 _"Crap. What have I done?"_

 _. . .No more Cognates. No more trust._

 _Nothing._

* * *

KEEFE'S SMILE UNFOLDED FOR A SPLIT SECOND, then it was back and he burst out laughing. "Don't be melodramatic, Soph. You're not pregnant."

"But I am!" she said, trying to make him believe her. "I went out shopping with Biana the other day at some stores. I ran to another while she was in the fitting rooms and picked up a test, Keefe."

She took the test from it's secret hiding place, her pocket, and held it out to him. He looked at it warily for a couple seconds, his hand slowly inching closer as if it was a wild animal that could bite him at any second. He quickly snatched the item from her and looked it over, his eyes growing wider with each passing second. "One pink bar . . ."

"Means you're not pregnant," Sophie clarified with a nod as she bit her lip.

Keefe held up the test to her -not that she needed to see it- putting the two pink bars on display. "I don't wanna know what this means. . . Is there a third option?"

She shook her head and whispered a strained, "No, Keefe. No third option."

 _Though, I wish there was._

"How could you do this?" he asked, exasperated, running a hand through his hair. "Why didn't you use protection, Foster? This is SexEd 101!"

Sophie's brows pressed together angrily at his tone. _"Sor-ry._ I thought we did! But, I guess I probably shouldn't have hooked up half-tipsy . . ."

"How could you be so careless?"

"I don't know!"

"Why are you shouting?!"

"Because you're shouting!"

"You started!"

"This is making me nervous!"

 _"I'm_ the one who's going to concieve a damn baby!"

 _Oh, goodness . . ._

* * *

 **Hellooooooooooooooo. You like this? :)**


	3. Just To Clarify

**HELLO EVERYBODY!**

 **Whoa. I just typed that without looking up and when I finally looked up, it was in all caps, lol!**

* * *

 _ **RESPONSES TO REVIEWS . . .**_

 **Sillylilly765: This is a complete different story from Two Young Hearts. :)**

 **BlackSwanGirl: This is different from Two Young Hearts. It's similar, but a Sophitz version :)**

 **Fictionalboyz: This is pretty much a Sophitz version of Two Young Hearts :)**

 **Smiles: Thanks :)**

* * *

"SO . . . YOU'RE PREGNANT?" KEEFE ASKED, JUST TO CLARIFY THIS WAS REALLY HAPPENING.

"Yup," Sophie sighed, plopping down on the guest bed.

Keefe came and sat down next to her. "Maybe . . . Maybe the test got it wrong?"

"99% accuracy," was all she answered with.

"Oh."

She sighed. "Let's face it, I'm knocked up."

"Oh," he repeated. "Well . . . am I the dad?"

Sophie laughed. "Keefe, I know we had a slight relationship in the past, but we never went past slight kissing. How could it be you?"

He shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Donno. I just . . . assumed."

Sophie frowned. "I'm sorry," she apologized softly.

"You're alright, Foster. So . . . you haven't told anyone else?"

"No."

"Not even the dad?"

Sophie felt a lump form in her throat. "No."

"If I might ask . . . who _is_ the dad?"

She licked her dry lips nervously. "Fitz."

Keefe at first gave what appeared to be a confused face, then he suddenly burst out into laughter. He slapped his thigh. "I always knew it would be Wonderboy!"

Sophie blushed and covered his mouth. "Quiet!" she hissed. "Others could hear."

Keefe grinned as she took her hand away. He wiggled his eyebrows. "Why don't you say that to Biana?"

"What?" she asked in alarm, jumping away from Keefe on the bed and flashing her eyes around the room.

Keefe snickered. "You fall for anything."

Sophie exhaled in relief and slapped him in the arm. "Ouch!" he cried out.

"Don't do that to me!" she ordered gruffly, glaring at him.

He rubbed the spot where she had hit. "Sorry, sorry . . ." He paused for a moment, simply watching her as she stared at her lip intensely like it was the most interesting thing in the world, and wrung her hands. He noticed how she kept spinning her Cognate rings around on her thumbs, clearly lost in thought. "Do you plan on telling him?" he suddenly questioned, breaking the silence.

Sophie perked up at his voice, eyes widening as she looked at him. She shook her head as if coming out of a daze, eyes going back to normal size. "Well, I mean . . . I wasn't really . . . _planning_ to . . ." She bit her lip hard.

"Well, Foster . . . Don't you think he deserves to know? He _is_ the dad."

Sophie grew pale. "Oh, don't make me go out there and tell him," she pled, her eyes growing glassy as her voice cracked. "I-I can't, Keefe. Please."

He sighed. "I won't."

She looked like she had been someone who's lungs had collapsed, then she was given infinite air. "Thank you. Thank you, thank you," she said, reaching over and hugging him around the torso, resting her head somewhere near where the end of his neck and chest met. "Yeah, yeah. No problem. But geez, I never knew you were such a sap. I'm drowning in your emotions. Too much adoration," he teased giving a face like someone gagging and fanning his face like someone caught in a desert, dressed for the arctic.

She blushed and released him, scrambling away. "Very funny."

"It was, wasn't it?" he agreed, pretending to be thinking, rubbing his chin and pursing his lips while staring of into the distance.

Sophie swatted playfully at him. She giggled slowly, then it came to a stop as a sense of serious settled over the two like a fresh blanket of snow, swallowing the ground. "We wouldn't be friends anymore," she whispered. "Nothing. No Cognates, either," she said with a pushed laugh, obviously not happy. She slid off a Cognate ring, the ring with his initials in it, and rolled it around in her hands.

"Why not?" Keefe asked. "You're, like, the Inseparable Telepath Duo."

Sophie gave a soft, breathless laugh. "Not . . . not after this. I kept a secret from him, Keefe. We're . . . We're not supposed to do that."

"So? You've kept a secret from him before. Still are, I believe,"-he winked-,"And you've survived this far along."

"Yeah, but we're not progressing or moving forward _because_ of that secret. We've been stuck in the same place for . . . well, it feels like forever. And this secret isn't going to help the case anymore than the first secret. I don't . . . I just don't think we'll survive this one." Her voice was strained as she said the last sentence.

Keefe frowned. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry. Nothing's your fault. It's mine. I shouldn't have-"

"Hey," he said, brows closing together, his face set and determined, "don't you go blaming yourself. If it's anyone's fault, it's his."

Sophie rose a surprised eyebrow at the blonde elf. He was siding _against Fitz?_ His best friend? For _her?_ "You do realize sex requires two people, right? Not just one?"

"Well, yeah, but . . . I have to blame _someone._ And you're too adorable and innocent to blame at the moment, so I blame him."

Sophie laughed. "Thanks."

"No problem. Just don't tell the Fitzster I said that. He'd kill me."

"My lips are sealed," she promised, making a motion as if literally sealing her lips like a zipper or something, and tossing away a key. She sighed, rubbing her arm awkwardly. "I have no idea what I'm going to do. I can't tell Biana, she'll freak. I can't tell Dex, he'll freak. i can't tell Fitz, he'll freak. I . . . I have absolutely no idea what to do."

"Are you saying you're not going to tell anymore of our friends?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

She nodded. "I . . . I think I am. You have to understand that I have to keep it a secret. It'd ruin all of us."

"What about Grady and Edaline? Alden and Della?"

"I'll tell Grady and Edaline. As for Alden and Della . . ."

"Still deciding on that, too?" he guessed.

She gave a breathless laugh. "Yeah. I've got a ot of things to decide on, now. Like when . . . _it_ comes. What should I do?"

"You're keeping it?" he questioned, looking rather shocked.

"Well, of course. I can't abort it and . . . I just can't imagine giving it up. I mean, sure, this thing will most likely destroy all my friendships, but . . . It's not it's fault for existence, It's mine. And now I've become responsible for another living being."

Keefe smiled. "You're . . . Grown up."

"Hmm?"

"Well, when you first got here . . . to the Lost Cities . . . you seemed so _small."_ He snorted out a sudden laughed. "Scratch that, you _are_ still small." He ruffled her hair playfully and then stopped when she stuck out her tongue at him and lifted a threatening fist. His face grew serious. "But now . . . I've gotten to watch you grow and mature right in front of me." He gave his own breathless laugh. "Foster Version II."

She gave a half smile, taking his hand and giving it a thankful squeeze. "Thanks."

"Eh, it's no problem."

She inhaled deeply through her nose and let it out in one big huff. Keefe watched as her forehead creased and her brows knit together, and he immediately knew some sort of idea had begun to form and take root in her brain. "Uh oh. What's Miss F up to, now?"

"Lihn and Tam," was all she said.

"Uhhh . . . What _about_ Lihn and Tam?" he prodded, trying to get the full story.

She gave a proud grin. "Nothing. Nothing at all."

"You lie, Foster. You _reek_ of lies. What's going on?"

She shook he rhead, the smile still broad across her face. "I've got a plan!" she laughed happily. Then he face fell and grew serious. "But I know that if I tell you, you'll try to stop me. I can't tell you now. I promise I'll tell you later, though."

"Dang, I really wish you weren't the _Mysterious_ Miss F. Can you be a little less mysterious, for me? PWEASE?" he begged, batting his eyelashes.

Sophie giggled. "No. I'm sorry, honestly. I am. But this is the best decision. No one will get hurt if I do this."

Keefe swallowed. _"Please_ tell me you're not going to attempt suicide."

That made her crack up. "No, silly. I'm just . . . going to do a little magic trick."

"Magic trick?" he repeated. "You're _really_ making me nervous."

She winked. "I know. But . . . at least I've got a plan."

* * *

 **Happy Valentines Day! I hope it was a good one :)**

 **Love ya'll**


	4. Missing?

KEEFE WAS DEFINITELY WORRIED, TO SAY THE LEAST. Sophie had told him she had a plan.

Plans always involved danger and chaos if Sophie was included in them. _Especially_ if she _created_ the plan.

Keefe was sitting in class, tapping his desk with the end of his pencil, head laying lazily on his hand by his propped elbow. He wasn't paying any attention whatsoever to the lecture, rather pondering the words Sophie had spoke to him the other day in the guest bedroom at Everglen.

 _I'm just . . . Going to do a little magic trick,_ she had said.

What had _that_ meant? His worries only amplified over the span of minutes as the boring class lagged on and his mind wandered to every single possibility.

If she was thinking about committing suicide . . .

"Mr. Sencen?"

Keefe's attention snapped up at the sound of his mentor's voice directly in front of him. The mentor narrowed his eyes at Keefe's legs propped up on the empty chair next to him.

Keefe didn't understand why he was staring at the chair in confusoin. It was just a chair . . .

The mentor shook his head and looked at Keefe. "Where's Miss Foster? Wasn't she sitting in that chair a couple minutes ago?"

Keefe nodded, frowning. "She asked to go to the bathroom."

"Shouldn't she be back by now?" another elf's voice called.

Keefe's eyes narrowed at the elf, quite pi**ed he was listening in. This concerned Sophie, not whoever _that_ was. They had no right to be butting in rudely.

He turned his attention back to the teacher."Uhh . . . I don't know. I didn't time her. I don't freaking stalk her. Am I _supposed_ to know the exact length of time a female spends in the restroom?"

The teacher scoffed at his attempt at humor. "It's been about around ten minutes and I just supposed . . ."

Keefe's frown delved deeper as he let the thought sink in.

 _Ten minutes?_

He peered over at the clock on the wall to get the exact time.

 _Fourteen minutes._

She _should_ have been back.

"Crap . . ." he mumbled to himself. Had she gotten herself injured _again?_

"I'll go check on her," Keefe offered -well, more like decided- standing up and heading towards the door.

"A-actually, Mr. Sencen-"

But he was already gone.

* * *

 **Sophie . . . where are you?**

 **Word of advice: Don't lose a pregnant Sophie.**

 **Also, I'm going to be posting up a new version of the Two Young Hearts chapter one, cuz the original was sucky . . .**

 **Here's the original, just so you can compare when the new one is posted in a couple minutes . . .**

* * *

 **Sophie grumbled as she vomited into the toilet. Her throat was dry and raspy and it stung like crazy. She rubbed her stomach and muttered some inaudible words.**

 ** _What's happening to me...?... This has been happening ever since that party three weeks ago..._**

 **Sophie hadn't told anyone, but she'd been throwing up a lot since then. She didn't need more attention from Elwin and 'Healing Center Visits'. Sophie was 17 and Keefe _still_ relentlessly teased her about that.**

 **Back on track, she had to take care of herself and figure this out on her own. Did she just eat something at that party that made her sick...for three weeks...?**

 **Maybe it was that stupid punch. It _had_ been spiked, Sophie just knew it.**

 **Why? Because after she had drank that punch (and drank a _lot_ of the punch, had she not been able to really remember the rest of the night. She could remember, but it was just really fuzzy.**

 **What else could she have done that night that...?**

 **Wait.**

 **Wait, wait, wait.**

 **" _Noooooooooooooooooo_..."Sophie groaned.**

 ** _This cannot be happening_. _Can I say that Elvin curse word, now?_**

 **Suddenly, a light flicked on in the hallway and Sophie heard footsteps approaching the bathroom she was in.**

 ** _Crap!_**

 **Suddenly, a brown-haired, teal-eyed girl entered the bathroom. She yawned and rubbed her eyes, obviously not fully awake and aware of Sophie.**

 **Biana.**

 **Grady and Edaline had been gone at the Sanctuary, checking up on Silveny and her pregnancy, so Biana had invited Sophie over to Everglen.**

 **Biana'S eyes trailed down to the toilet where Sophie was kneeling in front of and then her eyes popped wide open. "Sophie!" She exclaimed, kneeling down next to her and rubbing her back, trying to comfort her. She plugged her nose with the other hand. "What happened? Are you ok?"**

 **Sophie slowly shook her head. "I think I-"Sophie was interrupted as her stomach had a different idea and she threw up into the toilet once again. Once Sophie was done, she exhaled and closed the lid of the toilet, leaning back against the border of the bathtub. "I'm good... I'm done... I can feel it. There's nothing left... For now."**

 **Biana moved next to her. "What were you saying? Do you know what's wrong?"**

 **Sophie sighed. "I have an idea, but I don't like it."**

 **Biana placed her hand on Sophie's shoulder. "C'mon. It can't be that bad. Can you tell me?"**

 **Sophie hesitantly gave a small nod and she swallowed. "I...I think..."**


	5. Sickness Strikes

"SOPHIE!" KEEFE SHOUTED DOWN THE HALLWAY. "FOSTER! SOPHIE FOSTER!"

Keefe sighed as he paused in the hallway, running a hand down his face annoyedly. "Foster, where could you have gone?"

Keefe continued to search down throughout all the hallways until he finally came upon a bench next to the rest rooms. He flopped down on it angrily, exhausted from trying ot to look for his blonde friend. The one time he wished he was a Telepath!

Maybe he could just go round up Fitz and ask him to transmit to her . . .

It was not a good idea to lose Sophie normally, but this was worse. She was pregnant, however!

Keefe's thoughts stopped abruptly and his brow creased when he suddenly hue are a faint sound. He strained to hear the noise and grimaced when it was someone throwing up in one of the restrooms.

Keefe, too curious to not check, arose and poked his head near each bathroom, trying to figure out if it was a girl or boy. He finally came upon the conclusion the sound was reverting from the girl's bathroom.

Part of him wanted to call out to the person at also if they were ok, but the other half of him felt like he would come off as a stalker. He was about to awkwardly tiptoe away and continue on his search for Foster, when a voice arose from the bathroom. it was strained and raspy. "I-I know you're there, Keefe," she choked out before the hurling sound arose again.

"Foster?"

"Y-yeah . . ."

Keefe cautiously poked his head inside the bathroom, hoping no one else was inside. A frangrilyon twitched at his lips at the poor sound of her wretchint into the toilet. It almost sounded painful, it was so forceful. "Are you okay?"

"N-no," she answered truthfully.

"May I . . . may I come in? No else is in here, right?" Keefe asked, already beginning to step in.

"No, j-just me."

Keefe stormed into the bathroom, then, determined to find Sophie. "What stall?"

"Last one," she said, a quiver in her voice.

Keefe went up to it and tried to open the door to find it locked. "Sophie. . ."

"I'm sick, Keefe. You won't want to be next to me, trust me. Please. Okay?"

"Please let me in," he pled softly. "I promise you . . ."

Keefe's heart almost broke in half when he heard Sophie let out the saddest muffled sob he'd ever heard: she was clearly covering her mouth with her hand. "He's gonna hate me," she bawled. "You're gonna hate me. Rex is gonna hate me. Bianca is going to hate me. Everyone is going to be pissed at me! What did I do wrong? I didn't mean to have this happen! I'm so sorry . . ."

"Oh, Foster . . Don't . . . Don't get yourself down. Let me in. Please."

He heard her shuffle around and then the lock slowly clicked open. She stood there in a baggy sweater, her face red and tear stained. She had one of her hands covered inside the sleeve of her sweatshirt and she held that hand over her mouth, obviously trying to not cry. Keefe pulled her close and have her a hug.

"I have to tell you something," she cried.

"Yeah?"

"I-I'm . . . You're not going to see me for awhile, Keefe."

He frowned and pulled away. "Why not, Foster?"

"I can't tell you. I'm so sorry," she sniffled, letting out another sob as more tears rolled down her cheeks.

"No, no. D-don't cry."

He felt so helpless! How could he possibly comfort her?

"You won't see me," she repeated, still crying and trying frantically to wipe away all her tears.

"How long?"

"I don't think I can tell you that, either. It won't . . . It shouldn't be too long."

Keefe slowly nodded. "Alright. I just .. . I hope you'll be fine. May I talk to Fitzster?"

Her eyes widened. "About . . ." Her eyes slowly made her way down to her flat stomach.

"Yes," he clarified softly. "Please?"

"Will you tell him that I am specifically . . . Or will you . . ."

"If you'd like, I can just bring up that he needs to confide in you about recent matters."

She let out an unexpected laugh. "You sound so formal."

"Yeah, well . . ."

She swallowed thickly and looked at her shoes. "I guess. I'll have to tell him at some point, after all."

"Don't feel pressured to, Miss F," he said with a smile.

She returned a weak one. "I guess. I just . . . I can't believe I did that. I just feel so . . . arrogant!" she blamed, agitated with herself.

"Hey, it was halfway his fault, too. Remember that. 'Cuz this, " -he poked a finger to her stomach- "is not full Foster. It's half Vacker, too."

She blushed at the words so easily said and tried to halfway hide behind her hair, but nodded. "I suppose so," she mumbled sheepishly.

"You supposed _correctly_. Now, how about we get down to Elwin at the Foster Center?"

Sophie groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose at his teasing. "You never quit."

"That's my motto," he stated with a wink. "Now, c'mon. I'm sure he has something to help with that nausea."

He grabbed her hand and started to walk with her down the hallway, until she jerked to a sudden stop. "Wait!"

"What?"

"If we go there and ask about the nausea remedy stuff, he'll try and check me over."

"And?" Keefe asked, clearly not seeing anything wrong with what she just stated.

"Ugh. He'll find . . . him! Her! I don't know!" she bantered, gesturing rather forcefully at her stomach again.

Keefe covered his mouth to keep from laughing. "You look like you're attempting to break-dance," he snickered.

Sophie rolled her eyes. "I'm being serious! What if Elwin finds out?"

"Exactly. So what if Banshee Boy has figured out your latest secret? You've got to stop your roll of mysteriousness at some point! What foes up must come down!"

"Can you stop messing around?" she whined. "Please! Actually! He's an adult. He'll tell me to do the right thing, which is to tell Fitz!"

Keefe smirked. "Aww, you're finally breaking rules. And I'm here to see it! What an event." He held his hand playfully over his heart like he was cooing over a basket filled with puppies.

"You're way too dramatic," she scoffed, storming down the hallway.

Keefe ran to catch up with her and soon matched her pace. "We're actually going there?"

She shrugged. "I have no choice. I'm sick and I _need_ those pills or whatever. I can't do this whole morning sickness dance. And . . . maybe he could help me with anything that's to come."

"Agreed," was all he said. They shared a smile.


	6. Healing Center

"You two always manage to wind up in here, I swear," Elwin rambled, grabbing tons of vials of elixirs and serums and pills and inspecting the labels. He occasionally popped the cork out and smiffed the substance inaide, then put it back on before setting it down on a small countertop in the corner of the room where he was. "I just don't get it. People could wrap you in bubble wrap and put a thousand nexuses on you and make you carry a whole medical aid kit, and yet I know you'd _still_ manage to end up in here!"

Sophie blushed and rubbed her arm awkwardly. "I'm sorry, Elwin."

He sighed. "You don't have to be sorry, Sophie. I'm just . . . a little out of whack today. I apologise for my attitude. I didn't get much sleep. You both know I appreciate you, correct?"

Keefe gave a salute. _"Duh."_

Elwin rolled his eyes as he approached Sophie with a couple vials in his hands, but there was a smile on his face. He began to hand her all of the vials. "Drink these."

Sophie's eyes widened. _There were, like, five or six bottles!_

"All of these?" she gaped, astonished.

Elwin chuckled. "Yes. I want to make sure they have a lasting affect on you so you won't experience anymore sickness today."

She sighed like it was a burden and started to pop open all the vials and chug them down. A couple of times she choked. "O-ops," she coughed and hacked. "W-wrong tu-ube!"

Keefe snorted in amusement and came over to her, patting her back. "Hack it up, Miss F. Just hack it up."

Pnce she caught her breath she elbowed him in the side then shrugged his arm off from her and glugged down the last bottle.

No sooner than she finished it did Elwin come over and take the remaining bottles and set them over on the counter, then he returned with his goggles on. "I'd like to check you over to see what caused the sickness, if that's okay."

Sophie looked over to Keefe with worry in her eyes and he nodded. _'It's what's best,'_ he mouthed. He then tapped his head as if saying, 'remember that.'

"Sure," she managed to croak. Elwin frowned at how uneasy she seemed. "Alright . . . Lay back, then, against the pillow."

Sophie did as she was told and flinched when Rlwin snapped his fingers and a green orb flashed near her stomach.

 _Wonderful. He's going to figure out straight away_.

Elwin didn't seem to notice anything at first. He just moved the orb around in different directions, but it was all stationed ocer her stomach. His brow furrowed a couple times throughout the process and he was obviously thinking something to himself. Something he either didn't like or thought was weird. "I'm noticing other behaviour . . ." he said. "And before you freak out, I know that sounds weird, but . . . My orb . . . The light . . . It's picking up something that . . ."

He looked at her and then shook his head. He snapped his fingers and sat down across from her on a different cot, facing her like it was a meeting. "I think I'm going crazy. I really need sleep. Maybe I should just-"

"No," was all she whispered. "Tell me what you saw." She already knew the answer, she just needed confirmation. She needed to know before she blurted out to him, "Hey, I'M PREGNANT!"

He met her eyes cautiously. "But it's impossible. You'd have to . . . And you wouldn't have . . . You didn't, right?"

"What did you see?" she repeated.

"Well . . . A-a child, to put it blatantly. A baby. Barely developed, but . . . It was there."

She bit her lip and looked down at the sheets of the vot. "Yeah . . ." she said. "I'm pregnant."

"WHAT? Like, actually?"

She gave a nod. "Who have you told?" he asked.

Sophie pointed a weak finger at Keefe. Keefe gave a nervous wave.

Elwin looked back at Sophie. "No one else?"

She shook her head. "Well, except for you . . ."

Elwin noticed she seemed timid and nervous. Also a little glum. She was abviously feeling something close to her having let him down. "You didn't do anything wrong, alright? I'm sure it was an honest mistake," he assured. "Wait, it was an honest mistake, correct?" Elwin asked, turning to Keefe.

Keefe nodded quickly. "Oh, yeah. She would never . . . Foster didn't try to. It was an accident. Right?"

She nodded sheepishly, still chewing on her bottom lip. Elwin reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder. "There's no need to be ashamed, Sophie. It happens sometimes."

She scoffed. "No. I bet it doesn't happen often. I'm that one weird elf who has to make the impossible possible and the unnatural natural."

"Isn't that good?" Keefe smirked.

"Not if you act like a fool while doing it. Not if being different means being cast from the social acceptance circle," she mumbled.

Elwin sighed. "You'll have to tell your parents. like, now," he said, getting up.

"Wait, what?" Sophie asked, finally looking up. She seemed horrified at what he just said.

"Yes," he clarified. "I'm going and getting a pass for you to be excysed from school for the rest of the day so you can go home and tell them."

"Bu-"

"No 'buts.' And don't think you're getting out of telling me the father, either."

The moment Elwin walked out of the room, Soohie huffed, crossed her arms, and glared at Keefe.

He only shrugged. "Whoops."


End file.
